The present invention relates to an actuating mechanism for moving an upwardly movable flap of an article of furniture, comprising a main body to be fixed to a furniture body. An actuating arm for moving the flap is mounted, on the one hand, at a mounting axis of the main body and, on the other hand, at a mounting axis on a fitment to be fixed to the flap, and there is further provided an additional control arm for moving the flap. During the movement of the actuating arm, the effective lever arm length of the control arm is variable.
Furthermore, the invention concerns an article of furniture comprising an actuating mechanism of the kind to be described, which is provided for moving an upwardly movable flap.
Actuating mechanisms of that kind are used for moving flaps of articles of furniture which are movably mounted between a vertical position, in which a storage compartment of the furniture body is closed, and an upwardly directed open position. When the flap is opened, the flap can perform a considerable lifting-away movement in relation to the face of the furniture carcass, which is perceived by the user as being unpleasant because on the one hand, a relatively large amount of free space has to be provided and, on the other hand, there is also the danger that the user in front of the carcass of the cupboard can suffer injuries to the head due to excessive outward pivotal movement of the flap. As a result, the operator during the opening movement of the flap will intuitively dodge rearwardly out of the way when the flap moves at the level of his head.
EP 0 952 290 A2 and EP 1 785 565 A2 disclose fittings for upwardly moving furniture flaps, comprising a spring-loaded actuating arm and a control mechanism in the form of two hingedly interconnected pivot levers, the effective lever arm length of which is increased in the opening movement of the flap. A disadvantage in this arrangement is the risk that the flap of the article of furniture can easily collide with the head of the user in the course of the opening movement.